Capitol Briefing: May 24, 2009 - May 30, 2009

From staff and wire reports Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) said that he has entered the Betty Ford Center in California to receive treatment for his addiction to alcohol, the Tulsa World reported today. Sullivan released a statement saying that he had checked himself in to the treatment center Thursday night....

By Paul Kane The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee today pushed back against President Obama's call for a quick confirmation process that would be concluded by early August, warning that he did not think the committee would be in position to hold hearings until then. Sen. Jeff Sessions...

By Ben Pershing A federal grand jury has issued subpoenas to Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) and members of his staff as part of an ongoing inverstigation into a controversial, now-defunct lobbying firm, according to the lawmaker's office. "Federal law enforcement officials have issued grand jury subpoenas to my congressional office,...

By Perry Bacon Jr. A federal judge in Chicago said today that the Senate ethics committee can review secretly recorded conversations between Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) and the brother of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (D), who was removed from office earlier this year amid a corruption investigation. District Court...

By Paul Kane House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime critic of the Chinese government, met over the weekend with a Catholic priest in Shanghai who spent nearly three decades in prison. She also sought to link human rights causes to the effort to reduce carbon emissions in the world's most...